India still spends less on education

Private institutions and deemed universities need to be supported, says founder-Chancellor of VIT

Determinants of the quality of higher education institutions should be tied to accreditations, rather than inspections under the ambit of regulatory councils, said Dr. G. Viswanathan, founder-Chancellor of the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT).

“If this is effected, higher education institutes of India can unfurl more developmental strategies for implementation, in the larger interests of the student community and the teaching fraternity,” he said.

He was recently delivering the convocation address of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, a Deemed to be University, at the university campus in Pillayarkuppam.

In his convocation address, Dr. Viswanathan wanted the Government of India to spend more on education and devise opportunities for everyone to receive quality education. India was still spending way below the required minimum of 6% of its GDP on education and this needed to change if the country was to figure prominently, in the comity of developed nations, he said.

“Private institutions and deemed universities should be supported in their mission to reach the unreached and the government should offer more educational loans and scholarships to needy and meritorious students,” he said.

Dr. Viswanathan also highlighted the role of private entrepreneurship in education, especially those which need the patronage of the government, in order to forge ahead, in several academic fronts.

The VIT Chancellor, who was the chief guest, awarded 54 medals of academic excellence to toppers of various courses, from the faculty of medicine, dentistry, nursing and allied health sciences.

The founder-Chancellor of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, M.K. Rajagopalan, who presided over the solemn academic ceremony, conferred degrees on 905 graduands, from the constituent colleges, including Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College & Research Institute, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Kasturba Gandhi Nursing College and Faculty of Allied Health Sciences.

By 2030, India will be one of the youngest nations in the world, with an estimated 140 million individuals in their 20s. In fact, one in every four graduates of the world will be a product of the Indian higher education system.

Education is an essential tool for achieving development and sustainability. In this context, the quality of higher education becomes increasingly important, as India strives to compete and integrate with a globalised economy where highly-qualified, innovative and creative professionals are required.

Our higher education system – be it government universities, private institutes or self-financed bodies – operates in a pincer-like grip of regulations. Broadly, it is only the IIMs and IITs – both effectively outside the traditional Indian university system – that have the autonomy and flexibility of decision-making, and both sets of institutions have done the country proud.

It is a matter of grave concern that a number of higher educational institutions in India have dropped abysmally low in quality delivery over the last few decades. For they have become rule-fulfillers and not deliverers of quality education.

This, typically, is the outcome in such organisations where decision-makers are not accountable for poor performance. Most universities neither get sufficient funds from the government, nor can raise funds to meet their development and research needs.

Therefore, the ability of most Indian universities and institutes of higher learning is unfavourably blunted due to extremely limited flexibility in their decision-making process; the reason, more often than not, is various governance issues. This creates a wide gap in what the desirable outcome is and what is actually delivered by these universities and institutes of higher learning.

To meet the huge, unmet demand for job-oriented education and training, the government must “free-up” public universities and institutions. In addition, it must encourage – through appropriate policy interventions – the private sector to actively contribute to higher education.

However, instead of encouraging the role of private sector in higher education, the public policy so far appears to be unfriendly and discouraging towards the private sector, with conflicting signals coming from various higher education regulating bodies of the government.

If we talk about management education in particular, one must note that there exist many renowned high-quality private institutions in India, providing world-class education. These private institutions are committed to educational excellence and are conscious of their responsibilities. They have quality infrastructure, admirable course curriculum and faculty, affordable fee structure and location, and, above all, remarkable placements.

Management education in India has traversed a long distance over the years and has established itself as a powerful force capable of bringing about a manufacturing revolution in the country. It provides the foundation to young managers to be part of the desired paradigm shift in the Indian growth trajectory.

Due to our vast customer base, businesses across the globe are eyeing the Indian market and are keen to start local operations. Also, a large number of business initiatives have been launched by the government recently in its endeavour to not only make the country a manufacturing hub, but also to make her economic growth more inclusive. These forces have increased the demand for professional managers manifold, making management education more important than ever.

It is thus essential for all concerned policy-makers, educational planners, administrators and regulators to revive the very thinking of parity in rules and regulations governing both the public and private sector higher educational institutions. A common corporate law that governs public and private business enterprises is a good example to cite.

Such a major reform in higher education might just prove to be even more productive than an open invitation to foreign universities to set up campuses in India – independently or jointly with local institutions. It is time to have a coherent policy framework that acknowledges the complementarity of public and private sector to contribute to the higher education system and ensure its sustainable development.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is now ready to grade schools after asking them to focus on education and avoid commercial activities. The focus will be more on quality outcome rather than infrastructure, CBSE chairman R.K. Chaturvedi said.

CBSE has at least 18,000 affiliated schools, most of which are private. A government official who asked not to be named said grading schools would help parents and students. CBSE has previously said some of its affiliated schools are adopting unfair means to promote themselves without focusing on their core functions. The board has also remarked that some schools are focused only on infrastructure, without giving due attention to the teaching or learning environment. The accreditation process for higher education suffers from lack of transparency, but the government official said that CBSE has the credibility and the track-record to grade schools.

“The ministry is streamlining the higher education accreditation process to improve quality. The CBSE coming forward to do grading (of schools) will mean a better outcome across the entire education spectrum,” the official quoted above added.

The move comes weeks after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) warned private schools against turning into "shops" by selling uniform and books on their premises.

"We have told the schools that they should not charge unreasonable fees. The charges should be reasonable and there should be no hidden costs as that is the more irritating part for the parents," Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar told PTI in an interview.

He said the CBSE has sought data from schools about their fee structure and increase in fees.

"Many schools have sent the data, which are being analyzed. Schools which haven't sent them, have been sent reminders and penalized," he said. The minister, however, did not throw light on the penalty measures for schools found guilty of overcharging and having hidden costs in their fee structure.

Overcharging by schools and increase in fees every year have been a subject of concern, often raised by parents

In a search for solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing people around the world, the second day of the Unite Conference in Rotterdam looked to build bridges from schools to politicians to policies. The world and its multitude of problems may appear overwhelming at first glance, but the mood at Education International (EI)’s Unite for Quality Education and Leadership Conference in The Netherlands’ Education City 2017 could be summed up into one word: action.

That was the message conveyed by speakers and ideas stemming from discussions during day two of the three-day event. The tone of the day was set with the powerful and memorable words of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi. The champion of children’s rights, and long-time friend of EI, Satyarthi brought current political and social issues to the fore.

“Before so many walls are constructed around and inside of us, let's unite the world through bridges of compassion,” he said. “Teachers can lead with conscience, courage and compassion to help build a child-friendly world.” The Nobel Laureate announced his new 100 Million for 100 Million Campaign, which was fully endorsed and supported by EI General Secretary Fred van Leeuwen. The initiative seeks to see that the world’s 100 million child labourers are set free. Of Satyarthi van Leeuwen said that “his story is one of vocational perseverance, dedication to his values and plain and simple hard work.”

His words were also appropriate on day when the troubling trend of post truth was discussed in the context of education, and how teachers can work to counter the reality of false facts. And the theme of compassion and human connection was also relevant as the contentious issue of standardised testing was put to the debate floor. Steffen Handel of the Norwegian EI affiliate UEN exchanged his views with the OECD’s Yuri Belfali.

Bengaluru: Three students from the Bangalore International School, in collaboration with Cher Ysh- a city based NGO, have raised Rs. 65000 for the cause of providing education to women and children in rural Karnataka. Abinav Senthil , Yash Chandra Shekar and Ethan Aryaan Martin, along with Shantha.P Doddamani, 29 who was representing the Siddi tribal community in Tatwangi village in Haliyal taluk, ran the TCS 10K on Sunday.